‘Hopefully things align’: The Warriors still believe they can regain their championship ways

AFTER TERRY ROZIER drilled a wide-open 21-footer to push the Miami Heat to an 18-point lead over a listless Golden State Warriors team, Stephen Curry collected the ball and threw it with both hands at the bottom of the rim.

Curry couldn’t hide his frustrations, as coach Steve Kerr called for a timeout with 3:05 left to put in his reserves. He wandered aimlessly from the end of the Warriors sideline to the scorer’s table and back to the bench, staring up into the Chase Center air as if he were searching for answers from above.

Less than 24 hours earlier, shrouded by the Jimmy Butler trade drama, the Heat lost in double overtime to the Sacramento Kings. Yet inexplicably, the Warriors were the ones who looked lifeless and disconnected despite 31 points and eight 3-pointers from Curry.

The Warriors started the season 12-3 only to go 7-17 in the next 24 games. They are the first team in NBA history to start 12-3 or better only to stand below .500 later in the season, according to ESPN Research.

Whether it’s a 51-point debacle against the Memphis Grizzlies or allowing the Toronto Raptors to win for just the ninth time all season by failing to score in the final 2½ minutes in a 104-101 loss, the Warriors keep adding to the buffet of demoralizing losses this season.

“It’s very volatile right now in terms of the emotional roller coaster this year,” Curry told ESPN. “Similar to what it was like that [2021-22 season that ended with a championship]. I think it’s a challenge for us to just try to maintain confidence in what we’re doing, what we’re building.

“And until we run out of time, we have to maintain it.”

When the Boston Celtics visit Chase Center on Monday, Curry and the Warriors will be reminded that their confidence was tested 2½ seasons ago before they won their fourth title in eight years with a 4-2 series win over the Celtics. That season, the Warriors started 41-13 but stumbled into a 7-16 slump before rediscovering their championship DNA one more time, something they’re hoping to do again.

“Nobody going into that year thought we were a championship contender,” Curry said. “And then we won it.”

The Warriors appear to be a dynasty on the decline, and it’s clear that Curry could use the help of another star player. He can also use good health. Already banged up, Curry sprained his left ankle at the end of Saturday’s win against the Wizards and is questionable to play against Boston. Draymond Green injured his left calf in the same game and is out for Monday’s game, potentially longer. And Jonathan Kuminga (ankle) and Brandin Podziemski (abdomen) have been out as well.

But as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches, Curry, Green and Kerr have made it clear the franchise should not make any “desperate” moves.

Kerr says the three have talked among themselves multiple times about how the Warriors need to be responsible and not sacrifice potential future franchise cornerstones for a move now that has no guarantee of getting the Warriors into the playoffs let alone making a deep run.

“We all agree,” Kerr told ESPN. “We all really want this organization to thrive when we are all gone. And that’s genuine. That’s really rare, but it comes with extreme success.

“It comes with we are on one of the great runs of all time. None of us are bitter or second-guessing anything. We’re all sitting here like, man, let’s ride this thing out with as much competitiveness, joy as possible, and let’s help the organization do everything possible after [we move on].”

But Kerr wants to make it clear to anyone who might think otherwise: The Warriors aren’t waving a white flag on the season. And they are not quitting on their superstar’s mission for a fifth championship.

“What you’re really trying to do is see if you can make some moves at the margins that can help your current team,” Kerr told ESPN. “We are going to do everything we can to be as competitive as possible, to put the best team around Steph as possible without mortgaging the future, and that is the right decision.”

SHORTLY AFTER THE Warriors’ embarrassing effort against the Heat, Warriors co-executive chairman and CEO Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy were in a deep discussion together outside The Bridge Club, located near the team’s locker room.

These meetings aren’t unusual. But after the 18th loss of the season, Golden State’s front office felt like its superstar did on the court minutes earlier.

“They’re frustrated,” one Western Conference executive told ESPN.

Still, the exec, along with another Western Conference rival front office member, said the Warriors have indicated that if they make any moves, it will likely be closer to the trade deadline.

Golden State’s trade options include Andrew Wiggins‘ $26 million contract, along with younger prospects such as Kuminga, Podziemski and Moses Moody. The expiring contracts of Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, plus three first-round picks and two second-round picks are also available to deal.

But both Western Conference executives expect the Warriors to wait and see what the market will be on a player such as Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic as the Feb. 6 deadline nears. Vucevic would give Curry a much-needed scorer. The ideal situation for the Warriors would be expiring contracts for Vucevic, who makes $20 million this season.

The Western Conference executives also noted that if the Warriors slide even further in the standings, they could make a move to cut their luxury tax bill.

During the Curry era, the Warriors have made only two significant trades at the deadline. They acquired Wiggins and a 2021 first-round pick that became Kuminga in a deal that sent D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota in 2020. In 2023, the Warriors dealt 2020 No. 2 pick James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons in a four-team trade that landed defensive role player Payton and second-round picks back in return.

Curry, who turns 37 on March 14, is no stranger to the Warriors standing pat at the deadline. Playing with a throbbing thumb on his shooting hand and knee pain this season, Curry can live with trade deadline inactivity as long as the front office is putting forth the same kind of sweat in improving the team as he is on the court.

“[We’re] trying to be a realistic threat in a playoffs series,” Curry said. “If Mike calls and says, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity to do X, Y, Z,’ I give my opinion.

“My hope is that [if there’s no action at the deadline], it’s not because of a lack of effort. If we don’t have a chance to get better, my whole thing is I want to win, and whatever that means, all efforts are pointed towards that, then I can kind of live with whatever happens.”

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Christmas that Butler had Golden State on his list of preferred destinations. But the two Western Conference executives expect the Warriors to hold off until the offseason if they take a big swing, which means holding on to much of their assets in case a superstar becomes available.

Last summer, the Warriors explored acquiring Lauri Markkanen and Paul George, but didn’t want to part with younger prospects such as Kuminga or Podziemski.

Even back at the start of training camp in Hawaii, Green was delivering the message of staying patient and not making any rash moves.

“Can’t panic,” Green told ESPN. “Not in this league. Panic in this league, you win 25 games for five straight years.”

Before a win over the Grizzlies on Jan. 4, Kerr said he had spoken to Dunleavy about how it made “perfect sense” to give this current roster, which added Dennis Schroder in a trade in December, more time before making another move.

“You have to have some reasonability on what a big trade actually means because, one, trades are really hard [to make],” Curry said. “The idea that there’s this magical deal that can solve everything is what it is.

“If there’s an opportunity to get better and take a step in the right direction with the move that makes sense for the team, then we need to do it. If not, then you address that. But at the same time, that’s not for really me and coaches or anybody else down here [on the floor to say].”

IN NOVEMBER 2020, the Warriors were 15-50 before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Curry played just five games due to injury, and Klay Thompson had missed the entire season with the torn ACL he suffered in the 2019 Finals — and was slated to miss the upcoming season after tearing his Achilles that fall.

Golden State’s brain trust had internal discussions about whether to add an elite two-way point guard such as Jrue Holiday, who seemed like the perfect fit with his lockdown defense and rock-solid offense to complement Curry’s and Green’s two-man dance and maximize their franchise player’s championship window. But New Orleans was looking for significant draft assets.

The Warriors opted to hold on to their lottery picks, building a bridge toward a future after the Curry dynasty, and the Pelicans agreed to trade Holiday to the Milwaukee Bucks, in a blockbuster that included two future first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps, on Nov. 16. Two days later in the 2020 NBA draft, the Warriors selected Wiseman with the second overall pick as their big man of the future. And three days after that, the Warriors traded for Kelly Oubre Jr., sending a 2021 protected first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

So began the two-timelines era for the Warriors — trying to extend the Curry championship window while preparing for the post-Curry future of the franchise.

The Warriors took Kuminga seventh overall and Moody with the 14th pick in the following draft.

But four-plus years after opting to go through the draft instead of pursuing a veteran like Holiday — who won titles in Milwaukee in 2021 and in Boston last year — Wiseman is gone. Oubre lasted a season in the Bay, and the Warriors learned a hard lesson about what fits best around Curry. And the Warriors traded Jordan Poole and his four-year, $140-million deal to Washington a season after Green punched him in a preseason practice.

There have been some growing pains as the trio of Kuminga, Moody and Podziemski are still developing awareness and experience. The Warriors have to balance trying to win now with Curry while still allowing their younger players to learn and make mistakes.

During the Warriors’ 115-113 Christmas Day loss to the Lakers, Austin Reaves drove past Wiggins for a game-winning layup as Kuminga was guarding Rui Hachimura, who was out of bounds on the baseline. Kuminga briefly turned his back, and it was too late by the time he came over to help. But the power forward was beginning to show glimpses of learning how to thrive alongside Curry and Green, averaging 24.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in the six games before he suffered an ankle injury against Memphis on Jan. 4.

After an impressive rookie season, Podziemski struggled at the start of this season, even drawing Kerr’s ire about his poor decision-making after a Dec. 3 loss at Denver. Podziemski was in a dreadful 3-point shooting slump before shooting 47% from behind the arc in the nine games before he suffered an abdomen injury on Dec. 28. And Moody, shooting 42.8% from the floor, is still trying to carve out consistent minutes.

The Warriors were hoping for more from their young players as they are trying to prolong Curry’s and Green’s careers by managing their minutes and holding them out of back-to-backs at times.

Since Nov. 23, when their slide started with a loss against the San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors rank 26th in offensive efficiency, 19th in defensive efficiency and 23rd in pace during that span according to ESPN Research.

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“I feel like we have the roster to [win], and you have Steph Curry,” said Wiggins, who displayed the kind of two-way game the Warriors need with 24 points and active defense in a 116-115 win at Minnesota on Wednesday.

The way Curry sees it, there are “three really good teams who’ve kind of separated themselves” from the rest of the league. And then there are nine teams separated by a total of 5.5 games from third to 11th in the West standings.

“There’s another bucket [of] teams,” Curry said. “[They] just want to get to the playoffs healthy with momentum and know anything can happen in the playoffs series. With a title being the goal, we just want to be in that bucket, and that’s attainable [despite] some of our struggles this year.”

But Curry can’t do it alone. He is averaging 23.0 points and 31.8 minutes per game, both his lowest averages since his five-game 2019-20 season. He will need help. If it’s not via trade, then that help will have to come from the roster around him.

“Whether that’s personnel issue, adapting to how the league is, execution, you got to address all of that internally in our locker room,” said Curry, who spoke to the players on Christmas Day about still having time to turn the season around before losing to the Lakers.

“Figure out how to each play better. That’s why everybody gets rings when you win. It’s a joint effort of players, coaches, front office, support staff. … It’s not my job to do everybody else’s job too. So just trying to make sure we do our part down here, and then hopefully things align.”

Curry said Wednesday that anyone who thinks he’s OK with being on an average team is “insane.” The league’s greatest shooter is fixated on winning a fifth ring and thinks this team can surprise in the postseason again.

“Hundred percent feel like we can beat anybody in a playoff series because we’ve done it,” Curry said. “We have the knowhow, and we just want to be able to answer that question with how we’re playing and not imagine.

“… We’ve been there. We know how to do it. Just feel like we can do it again.”